ShipWorks v3.5 Q&A: Got questions? We have answers?

ShipWorks v3.5 has some great new features. We put together this Q&A to give you a quick overview of what the features are, how they work, and how they apply to your business. As always, if you have questions, let us know. We’re always here to help.

General Q&A

Do I have to upgrade to v3.5?No, but it’s strongly recommended because of the number of new capabilities and features that come with version 3.5.

Why do I care?ShipWorks v3.5 includes a lot of great stuff! Here are a few of the bigger things we know you’ll like:

EASY INSTALLER: Are you a new ShipWorks user, or are you setting up another computer for your shipping warehouse for the first time? We’ve made the set-up process easier, so you’ll be connected to your store and printing labels faster than ever before.

SCHEDULER: Our new Scheduler will allow you to schedule tasks whenever it is convenient for you and your business. You can tell ShipWorks when to perform tasks like back up your database, delete old data or save reports.

INCREASED AUTOMATION: ShipWorks can now run a program, connect to a website, or upload files to FTP based on most events in ShipWorks.

DATA CLEANUP: We can help you save space in your ShipWorks database by cleaning-up old data that hasn’t been used for a while.

How do I upgrade to v3.5? Upgrading your ShipWorks software is free and easy. Here’s a tutorial video that will walk you through the process step-by-step. Don’t forget to do the update on all computers that are running ShipWorks.

Easy Installer

What’s the Easy Installer? We’ve drastically simplified the installation and setup process. This mostly benefits brand new users to ShipWorks, but it will also simplify the installation process for anyone installing ShipWorks on additional computers on their network.

Scheduler

What’s the Scheduler? The Scheduler lets you schedule actions based on a recurring time – such as when to back up your database, cleanup old data, or save a report. The scheduler will also allow you to schedule an action for most APIs.

What’s a real-world example of something I can do with the Scheduler that I couldn’t before?The sky is the limit on scheduling items with the Scheduler, especially when you take into account some of the automation tasks we’ve added. A simple example would be to have ShipWorks automatically run a shipping report at 4:00 PM every day.

When can I schedule things to run?Whenever you want! Every third Friday of June and July? Sure! Every two hours for the next two weeks? No problem.

Will the Scheduler work when I turn off my computer?No, if you turn off your computer, the things you have scheduled will not run until you turn on your computer again.

FTPCSVAPIWTH?

What’s a CSV file and why would I want to export it? CSV is a file format that can be read by a number of different programs, like Excel or QuickBooks. It’s a list of your data, and lots of other programs can make use of it.

What is FTP? FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, but really it’s just a way to upload your files to the internet. If you don’t know if you have an FTP server, don’t worry about it.

What is API?API stand for Application Programming Interface, but really it’s just a way for one program to talk to another. ShipWorks now supports running programs and connecting to websites, which means you can integrate with programs like inventory control systems, drop shipping, and custom shopping carts.

Data Cleanup

Why would I need data cleanup?The delete old data feature (as we call it in ShipWorks) looks for information you haven’t used for a while and that is no longer needed. The benefit of deleting old data is that you will save space in your ShipWorks database. You’d want to save space because the free versions of SQL Server (the database ShipWorks uses by default) limit you to 10GB of data.

I don’t want to delete old data. Do I have to do this with v3.5? No, you don’t have to delete old data, but it is a default setting with v3.5. If you don’t want old data deleted, you will need to turn this feature off. See our help document for more details.

What data is deleted and how often?It’s up to you on what information is deleted and how often. By default, the delete old data feature will remove the content (i.e. body) of emails, label images and print jobs that are 180 days or older, but it will leave the history track log indicating you completed these tasks. You also have the option of deleting the audit history and download history.

Can I get the data back once it has been deleted? No. Once the data is deleted, it cannot be recovered.